THE AMERICAN BEE JOUKNAL. 



123 



to drive the hapless apiarian to despair, and ex- 

 cuse him for resorting to so desperate a remedy. 

 We speak from personal ohservation, and pos- 

 sibly it may be of service to some desponding 

 read* r to learn how great has been the damage 

 sometimes sustained from this cause. 



About twenty-live years ago Mr. S. sold to 

 Mr. J. his well-arranged apiary, consisting of 

 fifty colonies, with a number of empty hives, a 

 wax press, and other requisites, for the appa- 

 rently exceedingly low price of one hundred 

 dollars. For the purpose of saving honey the 

 bees had been kept in a dark chamber during 

 the winter, with the hives immersed in sand, and 

 ventilation supplied by means of tubes inserted in 

 the entrances. On their removal in the spring 

 most of the combs were found to be mouldy 

 and soiled by faecal discharges; and the popula- 

 tion was greatly reduced, evidently in conse- 

 quence of this "economical 1 ' mode of "winter- 

 ing." Thebee s appeared to be utterly despond- 

 ent, probably from an inkling of the fate that 

 awaited them, if their confinement were much 

 further prolonged — not even the proffered food 

 seeming to revive them. About the first of 

 May, the weather being fine and pasturage 

 plentiful, we examined them thoroughly at the 

 new owner's request, and found, as we had pre- 

 viously surmised, that more than two-thirds of 

 the colonies were foulbroody. The bees were 

 comparatively few in number and languid in de- 

 portment, and speedy destruction was evidently 

 impending. At the suggestion of an old bee- 

 father, a lew drops of the oil of cinnamon had 

 been mixed with their food, without producing 

 any perceptible benefit. Time wore on, the 

 disease increased in extent and virulence, and 

 by the middle of July, the poor man had not a 

 single c lony remaining of the fifty he had 

 bought, besides losing ten more which he had 

 previously owned, and he abandoned the busi- 

 ness. The apiary of one of his neighbors also 

 became infected; and before the ensuing spring 

 he lost twenty-five colonies — his entire stock. 

 We did not learn whether he made any renewed 

 attempt at beekeeping, after sustaining so heavy 

 a loss. 



Dampness, partly derived from the sand in 

 which they w T ere imbedded, and partly caused 

 by defective ventilation, thoroughly pervaded 

 the hives, causing mouldiness of the combs, 

 and inducing fermentation and decomposition 

 of the pollen. The bees had been prevented 

 from issuing to discharge their fa?ces; the combs 

 were soiled, and an intolerable stench issued 

 from the hives when opened. All the circum- 

 stances concurred to generate foulbrood, and 

 hasten the lamentable issue already described. 

 The moral of the sad story is, that bees, hives, 

 and honey should only be bought from intelli- 

 gent, competent, and trustworthy beekeepers; 

 and that no new-fangled mode of wintering 

 should be tried on a large scale, till after it has 

 been thoroughly and repeatedly tested in a small 

 way. " Prove all things," is a good maxim; 

 but the test should be made within prudent and 

 safe limits. Bees are certainly not moles, to 

 feel comfortable when buried in sand. They 

 require a domicile in which they are adequately 

 sheltered from the inclemency of the weather 



and extremes of heat or cold. Proper ventila- 

 tion should convey away exhalations, which, if 

 in excess, may become noxious; and on mild 

 sunny days at the close of winter, the bees 

 should be allowed to fly to rid themselves of 

 fasces accumulated by long confinement. But 

 whither are we wandering — led away by the 

 remembrance of the melancholy mishaps of our 

 beekeeping friends ? Let us resume our proper 

 task, to explain how foulbrood may be infallibly 

 cured. 



We conceive that, in the foregoing, we have 

 satisfactorily shown where the source of foul- 

 brood is to be looked for. If we have traced 

 the source and cause of the disease to the putre- 

 factive decomposition of pollen, it naturally fol- 

 lows that we should search for and remove such 

 pollen from foulbroody hives — carefully burn- 

 ing it, to prevent further damage. As such 

 operations mvtst be performed in a thorough 

 manner, it will at once be conceded that conven- 

 ient and effectual removal can only be affected 

 where movable comb hives are employed ; and 

 we therefore cannot refrain from recommend- 

 ing them for general adoption. 



To remove and cure foulbrood proceed as 

 follows : 



Early in the morning of a fine, clear, warm 

 day carry the foulbroody hive to a moderately 

 warm room, well lighted with close windows. 

 Remove comb after comb, brushing off the bees, 

 and cut out all the cells containing pollen or 

 brood. Fill the vacant spaces thus caused, by 

 inserting pieces of worker combs from healthy 

 stocks, using such, if possible, as are supplied 

 w T ith eggs, and fastening them in the usual man- 

 ner. The piec?s of comb cut out should imme- 

 dictely be burned or juried, or at least made in- 

 accessible to bees. If the hive have a movable 

 bottom board, anoint its lower edges with 

 twenty or thirty drops of pyroligneous acid. 

 Then set it on three equidistant triangular strips 

 of board, so as to elevate it slightly from the 

 ground, and burn within it a square inch of 

 linen dipped in melted brimstone — repeating 

 this fumigating, at intervals, two or three times. 

 Then carry the hive back to its stand, open the 

 windows of the room, to allow the bees collect- 

 ed there to pass out and return to their home. 

 The pollen having been altogether removed 

 from the hive, a shallow box or plate containing 

 oat meal, should be set out for the bees near its 

 entrance. We recommend oat meal for this 

 purpose, asi abounds in nitrogenous elements, 

 and is hence well adapted to supply the want* 

 of the bees. As an after cure and stimulant 

 furnish them with honey diluted with water, 

 and slightly warmed. The bees will thus more 

 speedily recuperate; the queen being fed will be 

 encouraged to commence laying earlier than she 

 otherwise would uo; and the population roused to 

 recommence their wonted labors. 



When hives have fixed combs, it is of course 

 necessary to operate in a somewhat different 

 manner. The readiest mode is, to stupify the 

 bees, transfer them to an empty hive, cut out 

 the pollen and food, and then proceed as above 

 directed. 



It is generally known that the sulphurous 

 acid developed by burning brimstone (composed 



